How do I protect my home from Medicaid and nursing homes?

Do I have to sell my home if I go into a nursing home? Do I get to keep my home if I go into a nursing home? What assets are protected or exempt from Medicaid or nursing homes? Watch as Attorney Tom Olsen answers these questions and more! 

Ron: Thanks Mr. Olsen. I’m a single man, might be going into a nursing home. I have a little bit of cash and a mortgage on my home. What’s the law according to the government, if I go to a nursing home, will they take my cash?

Attorney Tom Olsen: Okay. Ron, Medicaid is a government agency that will pay for your nursing home if you cannot afford it. Medicaid is a combination of both state and federal law. What is true here in Florida is not necessarily true in another state. Ron, you’re a single man, you told me. Ron, you would have to pay for your own nursing home until you’re down to nothing, $3,000 in cash and the home you live in. Stated in another way, Ron, you do get to keep your home even if you go on to a nursing home. 

Ron: Okay. If I lose all my money right now to my daughter, I give it to her and I go in a nursing home two years from now, what’s the problem with that?

Attorney Tom Olsen: Ron, if it was that easy, everybody would be doing it and nobody will be paying for their nursing home. Ron, Medicaid has a five-year look-back period. They will look and see what you’ve done in the last five years. If you want to give away all your wealth and wait for five years going to a nursing home, hey, that would be a plan. I don’t recommend it.

Ron: Yes. Listen, I thank you very much.

Attorney Tom Olsen: All right, Ron. Good luck to you. Bye